Part of circular dome of Chaurasi Gumbad

Kalpi is a historical city and

municipal board A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in Jalaun district in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is on the right bank of the

Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...

. It is situated 78 kilometres south-west of

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

from which it is connected by both road and rail.

History

The ancient name of Kalpi was Kalapriya.

Paleolithic

Lithics and fauna from the

Middle Paleolithic The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle P ...

of Kalpi have been described, aged at around 45,000 ka. These tools consist of diminutive

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...

choppers, possible manuports, cores, atypical points, scrapers, and

debitage In archaeology, debitage is all the material produced during the process of lithic reduction – the production of stone tools and weapons by knapping stone. This Assemblage (archaeology), assemblage may include the different kinds of lithic fla ...

; bone tools include end-scrapers, points, notched tools, burins, and atypical end scrapers in greater abundance than their stone counterparts. They exhibit evidence of charring, suggesting fire usage.

Medieval

In 1196, it fell to Qutb-ud-din Aibak, the viceroy of Mohammed Ghori, and during the subsequent Muslim period it played a significant part in the history of central India. In the early 16th-century

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

king of Chittor

Rana Sanga Sangram Singh I (12 April 1482 – 30 January 1528), most commonly known as Rana Sanga, was the Rana of Mewar, Maharana of Mewar from 1509 to 1528. A member of the List of Ranas of Mewar, Sisodia dynasty, he controlled parts of present-day Ra ...

defeated

Ibrahim Lodhi Ibrahim Khan Lodi (; 1480 – 21 April 1526) was the last Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate, who became Sultan in 1517 after the death of his father Sikandar Khan. He was the last ruler of the Lodi dynasty, reigning for nine years until 1526, when ...

twice and establish his control over some parts of

including Kalpi and Chandawar and appointed Manik Chand Chauhan to rule there.

also died in Kalpi in January 1528 poisoned by his own Nobles. The city was then captured by the

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...

under

Babur Babur (; 14 February 148326 December 1530; born Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad) was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his father and mother respectively. He was also ...

. During

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

's reign, Kalpi was a governor's seat and had a mint for copper coinage. The witty Raja Birbal of Akbar's court is considered to be born near this city. About the middle of the 18th century the city was lost by the

and it passed into the hands of the

Marathas The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

Modern

The town was captured by the British in 1803, and after 1806 remained in British possession until India's independence in 1947. Kalpi was a part of

Bundelkhand Agency The Bundelkhand Agency was a political agency of the British Raj, managing the relations of the British government with the protected princely states of the Bundelkhand region. History Historical background The Marathas ceded parts of B ...

, formed in 1811, and also housed its headquarters from 1818 to 1824. During this period the political agent to Governor General of India was appointed and headquartered in Kalpi. The

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

made it one of their principal stations for providing "commercial investment". In May 1858 Hugh Rose (Lord Strathnairn) defeated here a force of Indian rebels led by the Rani of Jhansi. The fortified post of Kalpi, the former residence of the rulers of Jalaun State, was dismantled in 1860 by the British and its place was taken by a market known as Whiteganj. Tourist sites include Vyas temple, Lanka Meenar, 84 Gumbaj and many Dargah like Dargah of Meer Syed Mohammad Tirmizi, and Sufi Khanqah colled Khanqahe Muhammadia, Kalpi is also the birthplace of Ved Vyas ji. There is a Kali Haveli and Rang Mahal of Beerbal named Rang Mahal.

Geography

Kalpi is located at . It has an average elevation of 112 metres (367 feet).The climate in Kalpi is warm and temperate. The rainfall in Kalpi is significant, with precipitation even during the driest month. The temperature averages 25.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 892 mm.

Location

The old town, which is on the

river has the ruin of a fort, and several temples of interest, while in the neighborhood are many ancient tombs. Away from the river to the south-east is a lofty modern town ornamented with representations of the battles of the

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

. The Gaud Sarasawath Brahmin (GSB) community who are followers of Kashi Math Samsathan Varanasi has set up a temple of Shri Bala Veda Vyasa in memory of the great sage Veda Vyasa. In 1998 Sudhindra Thirtha, the swami of Kashi Math Samsthan, envisioned setting this temple right at the birthplace of Veda Vyasa. It is also a tourist attraction.

Economy

Kalpi is still a centre of local trade (principally in grain,

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from South Asia. It is commonly used for cooking, as a Traditional medicine of India, traditional medicine, and for Hinduism, Hindu religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by ...

and cotton) with a station on the North Central Railway (India) line from

Jhansi Jhansi ( ) is a historic city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. (Toshan) Balwant Nagar was the old name of Jhansi. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand, on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme ...

, which crosses the Yamuna here. In late 1970s and early 1980s, Kalpi was one of the areas in central India affected by

dacoit Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word डाकू (ḍākū); "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with the meaning "a robber belonging to an armed ...

s, and was frequented by the much dreaded Phoolan Devi gang. It has been declared an industrial belt by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

and handmade paper is produced there.

Transport

Railways Kalpi is a major Railway Station of Kanpur-Jhansi railway section of North Central Railway. Roadways Kalpi lies on NH 27 in the Kanpur-Jhansi section of the National Highway. It is connected to the cities of Kanpur, Jhansi, and Orai by UPSRTC buses from the Kalpi bus station. Airways The nearest airport is at

near Chakeri (100 kilometres) which has direct flights to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

and

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

but is expected to be connected to major cities of India by 2021.

Notable peoples

* Meer Syed Mohammad Kalpi, Indian sufi saint * Paurush yadav

Gallery

File:Closed Cemetery- Treasure on right bank of river Yamuna at Kalpi..JPG, The British Memorial Cemetery on the banks of Yamuna River File:Closed British Cemetery.jpg, The majestic British Cemetery situated next to River Yamuna File:Yamuna River( Road Bridge).JPG, Yamuna River (road bridge)

References

Bibliography

External links

Excavation in Kalpi
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Jalaun district Bundelkhand Archaeological sites in Uttar Pradesh